Feast of Christ The King

“Who’s the Boss around here?” Isn’t it true that when we enter a new place such as a school or workplace, we ask this question soon on. We might not say it aloud, but we think it. I for one do not like it when people say to me: Well Farther, you are the boss!” Very often they say this when they might be thinking differently from me but are too afraid or upset to disagree. Then there are those people who react to others with the well-known statement, “You’re not the boss of me!” These folks, (which is probably most of us) don’t like to be told what to do by someone else. Especially in our culture where we value individual rights to be one’s own boss. So, we come to a very interesting feast day, the feast of Christ the King. It is the last Sunday of the Church’s year, as next Sunday we begin Advent, the Church’s new year. So, at the end of the year, we need to take stock of how we are relating to God. Maybe we can think about who’s the boss in my life: God? – or us? Who’s the boss of us in our family lives? In our work lives? In our lives at school? In our parish life? In our community life? In our nation’s life? These areas are the external areas of our daily living. What about the interior parts of our lives, our souls? Who’s the boss of you? It’s not God’s desire just to “boss us around,” but rather to remind us that we’re called to lead lives of a particular kind:

  

             Lives shaped by the needs of others and the common good

     Lives molded by a commonly accepted moral code

     Lives graced by accepting God’s will as greater than our own will

     Lives marked by a spirit of generous selflessness and sacrifice.

So how can we know if we are following the right “boss of our lives?” Jesus tells us how in today’s Gospel: “Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, you did it for me.” Put into practical terms: are we feeding the hungry? Are we clothing the naked? Are we welcoming the stranger? Are we visiting the sick and those in prison? Dear Christ our King, be the loving Boss of our hearts!!       ~ Fr. John